


It's Not Your Fault

by GlitchTheRoboticShadow



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anniversary, Esperanza Valdez's Death, Gen, HoO - Freeform, Mention of previous deaths, Nico and Leo bonding, PJO, caleo - Freeform, mcdonalds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:28:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4190388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitchTheRoboticShadow/pseuds/GlitchTheRoboticShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo had a hard time facing the anniversary of his mother's death. He felt extremely guilty about it and couldn't get it out of his head. But maybe all he needed was a few wise words from the son of Hades.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not Your Fault

Leo should have been happy, right? After all, the war was over, he was alive, and he freaking rescued the love of his life! What was there to be sad or angry about? Well, today just happened to be the anniversary of his mother's death. He'd come to accept that she was gone and not let it inhibit him, but still, he couldn't muster the energy or courage to be  _happy_ when he knew that exactly seven years ago, his mother was burned in a fire, claimed to have been set by himself.

Of course that wasn't true, Leo would never do anything to hurt his mom or anyone he cared for. Heck, he wouldn't even intentionally hurt the people that drove him crazy, example A being his Aunt Rosa. Some others wouldn't have resisted the urge to turn her into a giant piece of bacon, but Leo did and quite frankly, he was proud of that.

But even though the fire was in no way his fault, guilt still pooled in his gut at the memory of him igniting a flame in a poor attempt at deterring Gaea. How was he to have known that she'd manipulate the stupid thing and send the mechanic shop up in embers? He would've given anything to go back and change his mother's terrible fate, but there wasn't any way to do that and Leo wasn't stupid enough to mess with time travel, he'd leave that to the Doctor.

"Leo, are you okay?" Calypso asked, gently placing a hand on Leo's shoulder, jerking him out of his sluggish daze.  She'd clearly noticed his lack of mental presence, they usually worked brilliantly together, but he wasn't fully there and it was pretty obvious, even to his oblivious self. He collected the will to feign a weak smile that did nothing to appease his worried girlfriend.

"I'm fine, really." He assured her, running a greasy hand through his curly black hair. She fixed him with her usual  _Don't-You-Dare-Lie-To-Me-Flame-Boy-I-Will-Dissect-You-Like-A-Frog_ gaze.

He sighed, "It's nothing. I'm just having a rough day, that's all. No need to worry, cupcake." 

She shook her head and moved the tools on the table before pulling herself up and taking a seat, offering for Leo to sit next to her. "You know you can talk to me."

He sat next to her and she bumped her shoulder against his, legs swinging over the edge as she tried to make light of the situation, trying to lure Leo out of his shell. She didn't continue to push him to talk and so, silence fell over the workshop. It was comfortable, but it was clear that Calypso was having a hard time holding back from prying.

"Today's the anniversary of my mom's death." Leo finally said, followed by the stunned freezing of Calypso's swinging legs. She didn't say anything, waiting for Leo to continue.

"She uh-she died in a fire when I was eight, it's why I was put in foster care."

"You didn't have any other family to take care of you?" She sounded sad and distressed about these past events, even though Leo now had plenty of people who cared about him, that was apparent when he came back after saving Calypso and everyone cheered and Piper cried and Frank actually _hugged_ him. That was an odd day.

Leo scoffed before recomposing himself, "Well, I had this Aunt, Rosa, she hated me, blamed me for my mother's death, turned my family against me, called me a Diablo. She was something else, let me tell you. But uh, anyway, no one wanted me after that and I was left in foster care. That didn't end well, clearly."

Apparently Calypso had read his mind because she responded with, "Leo, you know it wasn't your fault, right?"

A slight pang of insecurity and anger thrummed through him, but he cooled down and gave her a lopsided smile, "How would you know? You don't even know what happened."

She shrugged, "No, I don't. But you're a good person, Leo. I know you'd never hurt anyone on purpose." Her reply didn't do anything to ease him, which was apparently obvious on his face, "Fine, if you don't trust my instinctual judgement, tell me what actually happened. If you want to, that is." She sounded hesitant and Leo felt bad. He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable or nervous. She deserved to be at ease and have fun for the remainder of her days. She'd had enough of that whole angst and sadness stuff to last a life time, but here he was, serving her some more.

"I'm sorry, you're right, it's not my fault."

"When will you learn to stop lying to me, Leo Valdez? You know it never works."

He smiled, actually genuine and moved closer to her, taking her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. "I was eight and my mother and I were at her workshop, closing up for the day," He paused, trying to keep his emotions in check. He absently rubbed his thumb in small circles on Calypso's hand, which oddly comforted him.

He went on to explain everything that had transpired, not leaving out any vital information as Calypso nodded and subtly squished closer to him.

"Leo," she rested her head on his shoulder, "the only one that's at fault for that, is Gaea and you and the others have already taken care of her, you've avenged your mother."

"But the only reason Gaea was there was because of me, if-"

Calypso sat bolt upright and shoved her hand over his mouth, "Listen here, Leo Valdez. What happened to your mother was terrible, sad, tragic. It was so many things but it. Was. Not. Your. Fault." She was getting worked up, so she took a calming breath before continuing, "You couldn't see into the future, you didn't have incredible powers that enabled you to singlehandedly challenge Gaea. You were an eight year-old boy, confused and scared. And I may have never met your mom, but  _I know_ that this is not what she would have wanted. To put it nicely, Leo, suck it up and accept the fact that, as hard as it may be to face, there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened."

Leo really wasn't sure how to react to that. He admitted that he needed some tough love and sure, it helped, but Calypso was his girlfriend, she was biased (though, he was pretty sure she'd never just  _go easy_ on him.) The silence that ensued stretched on to an almost uncomfortable length, until Calypso leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, "You must be starving. I'll go get us a snack. Be good while I'm gone." 

She hopped off the table and left the room, leaving Leo to stew in her blunt words. Maybe he was scared of the idea that there really was nothing he could've done to save his mom. He didn't like the thought of it being that finite, like she was born just to have Leo and then be murdered. Like people didn't have control over their fate and everything was pointless. That almost frightened him more than him being the reason his mother had died.

 

_

 

Calypso had come back with salad because she was Calypso and apparently didn't grasp the concept of comfort food. They were right about to dig in when new sets of footsteps echoed into the room.

"Will, I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Oh, come one, Nico! Have an open mind!" 

"No," Nico sighed, "Just no."

The two came over to the table, Will looking a bit put out and Nico looking his normal, somewhat dark (if not a bit amused) self.

"What're you guys arguing about?" Calypso queried, setting her salad to the side.

"Well-"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." Nico cut Will off, sending a scowl his way. Will huffed but turned back to Leo's girlfriend.

"Hey, can I talk to you? I have some questions to ask you about treating wounds and Chiron wants to know how you make the flame-resistant cloth."

"Oh, sure." She agreed, sliding down from the table. She turned to Leo and gave him the  _Are-You-Going-To-Be-Okay-Here-Alone?_ look, earning a firm nod from the mechanic. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss before strutting off with Will. _  
_

For whatever reason, Nico stayed behind and eyed Leo like he'd just found a unicorn but wasn't sure if it was going to impale him with its horn. Nico was nice enough, Leo supposed, but he was just sort of...Creepy. Leo hated that that's how he felt, considering the guy freaking saved his life and could easily pummel him like a clump of dried clay.

Nico's hands were shoved in his coat pockets, his black bangs hanging down over his eyes, that were intently fixed on the son of Hephaestus.

"So, uh, I'm not very good at this whole," Nico cleared his throat, "comfort thing, but I'm going to give it a try."

Gods, was Leo really  _that_ obvious? Or was Nico actually Sherlock Holmes in disguise? He'd thought he was better at hiding his emotions than this, but apparently he had a freaking flashing neon sign taped to his forehead reading,  _I'm sad. Awkwardly try to comfort me._

"Listen, Nico, I'm fine."

Nico raised an eyebrow at that, not convinced in the slightest. Nervous energy built in Leo's gut. He didn't need a pity party, what he needed- in the wise words of Calypso- was to suck it up.

But then again, as creepy and off-putting as Nico was, he also happened to be an unbiased third-party that could give him impartial judgement. So really, what was the harm in sharing if he could finally have an answer that he could probably trust?

He sighed and combed a hand through his hair. He felt he was doing that a lot today. "My mom died today."

Nico's expression only grew more confused. Leo chuckled ruefully, "I mean, today's the anniversary of her death."

Leo was expecting a few reactions, maybe an  _Oh, sorry, man._ or  _That's rough, buddy._ a sympathetic hug, a pat on the shoulder, basically, he wasn't expecting Nico to dissolve into the shadows without a word, leaving Leo feeling weird. Weirder than before at least. 

Leo wasn't angry, but he didn't understand  _why_ Nico would react like that. He knew that the son of Hades had gone through quite a bit, including losing his mother and sister, not to mention that he accidentally time skipped to this century, which was some Captain America crap right there. Maybe Leo trudged up unwelcome memories and the boy had to get away before he mentally broke down. Or maybe he just didn't like Leo and was trying to get away from his burning mess as quick as possible.

It was nice being alone in the room, but being left with only his thoughts might not have been a good idea. He could feel the darkness creeping at the corners of his mind, waiting to incapacitate him with overwhelming guilt. It was inevitable.

 He was right about to leave and take a walk in the woods to try to clear his head, when Nico emerged from out of nowhere, holding Mcdonalds bags. He took a seat right on the spot and started pulling food out of the bags.

"You went to...Mcdonalds?"

"No, I went to the bathroom-Yes, I went to Mcdonalds." Nico rolled his eyes. Leo sat down across from him, grabbing one of the bags and taking the chicken nuggets.

"You really shadow-traveled just to get food?"

Nico shrugged and dipped a chicken nugget into a container of barbecue sauce. "It's not like I could just walk."

"Will's going to kill you." Leo chuckled, taking a bite of his food.

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him."

A couple minutes stretched on of awkward silence while they ate far more chicken nuggets than was advisable in such a short period of time.

"So, what's up?" Nico asked, clapping his hands together, having finished his meal.

"Nothing's up." Leo said, trying his best at nonchalance but failing miserably.

"C'mon, man. Will and Calypso could be back anytime and I'm not letting you shrivel back into your cave of depression."

"Really? You're telling  _me_ that?"

Nico rolled his eyes and took out yet  _another_ box of fries, pointedly jabbing one at Leo. "Today's the anniversary of your mom's death, that isn't easy on anyone, but there's clearly something else going on."

He told the long story of that horrific day (Leo was getting really tired of having to relive it) and Nico nodded along, not interrupting even once.

"So, you blame yourself for her death?" He asked once Leo had finished.

He nodded sullenly, "I mean, yeah." 

"I can understand that."

Leo was kind of surprised by Nico's reply. Did he just agree with Leo that it was actually his fault? Most people tried to pull him down and tell him that he was being silly, no one had right out agreed with him. "So, you think it's my fault too?"

"No," Nico moved the hair out of his eyes, "I think that it's totally reasonable for you to blame yourself and feel guilty. Most  _good_ people would. And as annoying as it is to hear, it actually wasn't your fault. Trust me, I'd know."

Leo suddenly felt worried. Sure, he didn't hangout with the kid a lot, but he didn't want him feeling even more down than he usually did. "What do you mean?"

Nico sighed and set down the box of fries. "My mother was killed by Zues," He paused and Leo was trying hard not to interrupt. Sometimes, he'd forget how cruel and messed up the gods were. "Hades was warned of this and tried to move us to safety, but my mother refused, saying she didn't want her kids to grow up in the underworld."

For a moment, Leo couldn't see how that would reflect on Nico, but then he thought it over again. "So, even though you were only a little kid, that couldn't have done anything, you feel guilty because she stayed for you and your sister."

Nico nodded, "When I learned what had happened, I felt so guilty, like it was somehow my fault. Even now, I feel the immense weight of it, but I have the sense to  _know_ that it wasn't my fault."

Silence.

"Do you blame me for my mother's death?" Nico asked, looking Leo in the eyes.

"What? No, of course not. That'd be ridiculous!"

"Then why do you blame yourself for your mother's?"

Leo hesitated, "It's different-"

Nico shook his head, "No it isn't."

They went silent as the chatter of Calypso and Will flooded the room, both walking in with big grins on their faces.

"Come on, Nico-Did you shadow travel?!" Will sputtered, Leo had no idea how the guy could tell. Nic looked pretty healthy, or his normal self at least. "What have I told you? For something-for something as petty as Mcdonalds! Really?!"

Will went on and on, lecturing Nico for his stupidity, but Nico had apparently tuned him out. Nico stood up with Leo, "You know, we aren't really that different, Valdez." And with that, he walked out, an angry Will following in his path.

Calypso grabbed Leo's hand and smiled at him, "You and Nico have a nice talk?"

"Surprisingly, yeah." Leo smiled, "I actually feel a little better."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for reading! I wrote this off of a prompt someone sent me on Tumblr. I'm not very proud of it, but it was fun to write. Let me know what you think in the comments and have a lovely day!


End file.
